‘Ramdas Vaidyar treated Malayali hypocrisy through sarcasm-laced laughter’

Laughter laced with sarcasm is the best method to treat the hypocrisy of Malayalees, and Ramdas Vaidyar, Kozhikode’s satirist par excellence, knew this very well, poet Alankode Leelakrishnan has said.

He was delivering a lecture and opening an event to mark the death anniversary of Vaidyar here on Tuesday. “Vaidyar did not express his satire through writings, but he resorted to quirky acts to express social criticism. Honouring the washing stones on the Muthalakkulam ground in Kozhikode city, which are forced to suffer the beating of dhobis in the daytime and the long and tedious speeches of politicians in the evenings was one such act. When the Miss World competition was held in Bengaluru to choose the most beautiful woman in the world, Vaidyar conducted a ‘Viroopa Rani’ and ‘Viroopa Raja’ competition in Kozhikode to select the most ugly-looking people,” Mr. Leelakrishnan said. He was also the first to give a “life-long pension” to his wife.

Vaidyar, an Ayurvedic medical practitioner by profession, was more famous for his social criticism and friendship with eminent writers of his time. Nilgiris, the private lodge he ran near the railway station, was a haven for many writers, Mr. Leelakrishnan recalled.

He pointed out that Malayalis were often found to preach something and practise something else. Mere criticism would not help address this attitude, and Vaidyar knew it very well. That was why he resorted to his quirky acts, Mr. Leelakrishnan said. Thus, Vaidyar became part of the great tradition of satirists in Malayalam such as Kunchan Nambiar, E.V. Krishna Pillai, Sanjayan, and VKN, he added.

Calicut Press Club president E.P. Mohammed and senior journalists A. Sajeevan and Kamal Varadoor, among others, were present.

Published - October 23, 2024 02:04 am IST